Dear Alliance Mage (and three friends)

As I've said many times before, I'm not particularly good at PvP. This is primarily because I generally don't ever take PvP quests, and I avoid the battlegrounds for the most part. But the other night while running around on an alt, I ran across the PvP quest I'd skipped on my main to capture the three posts in Hellfire Peninsula. Since it was 2 AM server time, I figured what the hell (no pun intended) and took the quest. Hellfire seems to be deserted on most days with everyone playing World of Motecraft lately. Surely 2 AM had to be even better for my chances to capture the towers and get away without any trouble! So, I accepted the quest, jumped on my trusty kodo, and hauled my Druid butt out to the first objective.

Sure enough. As expected, nobody was around. The Alliance had the flags, so I dropped off my kodo and flagged so that I could "recapture" the Stadium. After waiting a few minutes... *whoosh!* Horde had control! Hooray! Still cautious, I jumped back on my kodo and beelined for The Overlook. Waited a few minutes, and *whoosh!* The second objective had come under Horde control as well! Woot!

Still flagged, I hopped back on my kodo and headed for Broken Hill. Almost as soon as I got there, two level 70 Alliance players flew by on their birds. As my Druid is currently level 63, I knew no amount of bear tank weardown would save my noob PvP self from the beatdown they would undoubtedly soon be coming to administer. Nervous, I slid off my kodo and surveyed the area. Good. Nobody else around. Maybe I could finish and get back to Thrallmar! But just as the flag slider on the bar was about to go into the grey area between Alliance and Horde control, the two Alliance players landed and started towards me. They were unflagged, and talking between themselves in that strange Common language. I mentally prepared myself with the certain knowledge that I was about to become a rug...

Needless to say, I was pretty well prepared to meet my end. Then it dawned on me. I was about to have another quest in my log that I'd probably have to get help to complete... As if on a "bad news" cue, two more level 70 Alliance landed and started towards the first two. Figuring I couldn't do anything against 4 any more than I could 2, I shifted into bear form and waited. I figured I'd at least try to put up some kind of a fight. After all, I might luck into staying up long enough for the bar to slide to Horde control before I became a bit of interior decor.

Just then, a truly unexpected thing happened. The Mage said something to the others, and everyone stopped dead in their tracks. After about 20 seconds of no movement, I shifted back and stood there wondering if I was lagging. Nope. The Mage then waved at me, verifying it definintely wasn't a lagspike. I thorned myself up and shifted quickly back to bear, bracing for the strike. Still nothing.

While I was waiting for them to strike, I suddenly realized... They had let the flag roll back to Horde control, thereby completing my quest! How awesome was that!

Of course, they proceeded to dog pile my Druid and give me the beating I was expecting. (I'd like to say I gave as well as I got, but the truth is that I only managed to wear the Priest down a bit) But the interesting thing to me overall was that they waited for me to get control of the tower before pounding my wee little Druid into the mud. Once they had killed me, the Mage /saluted me, and they sat there long enough to take Broken Hill back for the Alliance. I waited for my flag to drop before taking my rez, and the Mage and I traded /salutes and went our seperate ways.

I have to admit, most of my experience (while on my Horde characters) had been poor with the Alliance prior to that moment. The only PvP I've really done prior to that was defensive world PvP. (If you're wondering why, L60s attacking The Valley of Trials does not impress me.) As such, I was really surprised that they waited -- allowing me to finish the quest first.

So wherever the four of you are out there, one little L63 Druid appreciates your thoughtfulness in allowing her to get her quest completion. /salute

Do you have an Open Letter that you'd like to send out to someone who selflessly helped you out? How about to that person who ganked you when you were minding your own business? You never know, they might read WoW Insider too.

Hey, stranger things have happened -- like me PvPing in the first place!

[with thanks to Steve]

P.S. I might have to try that again sometime. That was kind of fun.